Carson Kvapil — Driver Profile
Car: No. 1 / No. 9 | Team: JR Motorsports | Manufacturer: Chevrolet Crew Chief: Rodney Childers (primary) | Sponsors: High Rock Vodka, JR Motorsports rotating partners Status: Full-time rotating program | Hometown: Mooresville, North Carolina
2026 Season
Carson Kvapil is running the O'Reilly Series in one of the most unique arrangements in the garage — a rotating multi-car program at JR Motorsports that sees him share the No. 1 with Connor Zilisch and make additional starts in the No. 9. Through nine races he sits fifth in points with four top fives and five top 10s, including a fifth at Bristol on April 11 — part of a JR Motorsports sweep of four of the top five positions. His best result remains a third-place finish at Phoenix.
2026 Stats (through 9 races): 5th in points (300 pts) | 0 wins | 4 top 5s | 5 top 10s | 29 laps led
Career
Kvapil is a two-time CARS Tour champion (2022, 2023) who made the jump to full-time national-series competition with JR Motorsports. His short-track pedigree is exceptional — he dominated the CARS Tour during back-to-back championship runs and arrived at the O'Reilly level with more technical-track credibility than most rookies. He is the older brother of CARS Tour standout Caden Kvapil.
The Story
Kvapil's 2026 story is really two stories in one: his own development as a national-series regular, and the question of how a rotating program at JR Motorsports affects his trajectory. Sharing a car with Connor Zilisch — one of the most discussed young drivers in NASCAR — creates a natural comparison point. The expectation is that Kvapil's short-track base will show up most clearly as the schedule moves to more traditional venues.